The+internet,+learning+and+current+trends

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Week 10- 16 Summary

The establishment of the internet as the main source of information for most people, has shifted the way people work and interact around the world. However, the effects have been significant not only in the way people socialize and go about their professional lives, but also in the way students interact with content.

Possibly the most significant change relates to the shift in the method of content creation and delivery. O’Hear (2005) points to the shift from a top down approach to content, where teachers gave students access to traditional style course content on line, to a more bottom up approach to content, involving students creating their own content with the use of web 2.0 tools.

The internet is playing an important role in terms of access to content. For example, not only can anyone be a creator of content but they can categorize their content on the internet using tagging. A further example is RSS feeds, which ensure the most up to date information is made accessible; saving time by getting content delivered to the end user as it is published online. Another important development relates to the opening up of educational content, allowing any student anywhere the opportunity to access content (Malamed, 2012) from authoritative figures or institutions, through collaborative online groups, or in more visual ways.

These developments in the internet have led to four main trends in education today (The Encyclopedia of Education, 2002). These involve the role the internet plays in, finding and representing educational problems, accessing educational resource, summarizing and presenting findings, as well as the role it plays in collaboration and distance education.

The role the internet plays in the creation and delivery of content is having significant impacts on the way education is being carried out. Increased access and content creation abilities, place more responsibility on the students’ role, forcing us to reconsider not only the teacher’s role, but what skills students should take with them when they leave college.


 * References**
 * 1) Encyclopedia of Education. (2002). //Technology in education: current trends. // Retrieved March 18, 2012, from Gale Opposing viewpoints in context: @http://0-ic.galegroup.com.library.hct.ac.ae/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX3403200620&mode=view
 * 2) Malamed, C. (2012). //10 ways to learn in 2010 //. Retrieved April 3, 2012, from the eLearning coach: []
 * 3) O'Hear, S. (2005, November 15). //Seconds out, round two //. Retrieved March 18, 2012, from The Guardian: []